can i get some more flowers down here?

I got twelve mosquito bites moving furniture from the old teacher`s apartment to my new apartment today. The story is that I visited the old place and it was really messy and dirty, pretty disgusting really(sorry P, but wasn`t it?). The old teacher(Paul ;) ) said it was drafty, had bugs, and that two surrounding houses got robbed recently. So, I asked the teachers at the new high school, who are in charge of my housing, if could switch to a different place. They showed me the place next door and said I could move there if I liked. That place has shiny new tatami mats and sparkles from floor to ceiling. I liked it much better right away; it`s clean and free from years of old sponges and jars of kimchee from English teachers past. As far as safety, well, it *seems* safe enough. I told them I`d take it.
It`s got three rooms, so I`m pleased to say once again, there`s plenty of room, please come visit!

Watching tea ceremony the other day was really nice. First, Etsuko taught the woman Sa Sensei and her husband To an English lesson. Then, we went into her tea room and sat seiza while she prepared tea for us. She offered us some tasty treats from Tokyo that she called 'Tokyo Eggs.' They looked like eggs but they were sugar-coated sesame paste cakes--tasty! We watched as she performed the ceremony. It was easy to watch. She lifted this, poured that, turned this, moved that--gracefully and in a relaxed manner. I was scarcely aware that she was doing something so precise and choreographed. She simply looked as if she was enjoying herself, and she explained what she was doing from time to time.
Then she served the tea. She showed me how to view the tea bowl, and how to drink the tea, turning the bowl clockwise twice gently in my hand and then sipping. The tea was soft, fluffy and only slightly bitter. It was grassy green, something like the color of wheatgrass juice. The bowl had little blue cherry blossoms on the front.
I had had the idea that tea ceremony was something a little boring and maybe even stuffy. Sa Sensei has been practicing tea ceremony for over 40 years, but it seemed a fresh and lively experience for her.
Beforehand, we meditated a bit on the month's theme, written on a scroll in the corner of the house reserved for such things. The story on the scroll read,
"A great old wizard decided to visit inside a flower vase. He sat in the vase for what he thought to be one week, but after emerging, he realized he'd been in the vase for a thousand years."
She explained the meaning. Even if something seems huge for us, it is only a tiny thing in the scheme of the universe. Don't worry about tiny things in daily life.

I don`t know if I want to study tea ceremony, but it was a very positive experience for me, and especially nice to be around such a jovial woman.

back

I`m back in Japan, baby!

Etsuko has invited me to stay in her guest room until I begin living in a new apartment. Today, she is taking me to her tea ceremony lesson. It will be my first time ever to see tea ceremony and its components. She tells me the instructor is 77 years old.

It`s good to be home(home #3, after Boulder and Philly--thanks to my wonderful hosts in homes #1 and #2!!)

More to come.

Testing... testing

help, my blog grew a big, empty space!!

The Japanese Story

This is a story about a Japanese man and an Australian woman who get stranded together in the middle of the dessert. She is outspoken and aggressive, and he is taciturn and unconcerned. They unexpectedly discover each other in the wilderness and across cultural barriers. Their story plays like an endless wind pulling slowly across a crystal chime--gently, like spring rain falling.
And in a flash, it's over.

Why was it a 'Japanese Story?' It could've been an 'Australian Story' or even a 'Love Story.'
What does this story have to do with me?
just some late night ponderings.

(P.S. it's not an errror; if you see the movie, you'll understand! ;) )

more at: http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/j/japanese_story.html

What's for dinner?

What food would you most want to eat upon returning to your country after eight months abroad?

Home

In Philadelphia, finally. My big, navy blue duffel bag got lost somewhere in transit, but I've been assured it will be delivered to my mother's doorstep before tomorrow afternoon.

In the baggage claim department line, there was a short man with a dark mustache and a bald head in front of me, and a tall man with crisp good looks behind me. The short man was flirting with the woman behind the counter. The tall man was fuming impatiently, spouting his disapproval in a thick German accent.
When he finally got to the desk, the woman ignored him and called the man standing in the next line over to her counter.

It was the worst customer service I've seen since the last time I was in the airport. Takes a little readjusting coming from the most service-oriented place I've ever known.

Anyway, it'd been eight months since I'd seen mom, dad, and brother Zach. We had a nice homecoming tonight. By the way, home is now my childhood bed with a fluffy white comforter on top. Everything seems a little different...

Summer Camp in the Rockies, July 24th - August 1st: Some Reflections

Reflections on Teachers and others

Doran Sensei has a gift for relating empty-hand techniques to weapon-wielding techniques of Aikido. He demonstrated many techniques firstly with a weapon, secondly empty-handed, and lastly empty-handed facing an oncoming attack. He easily demonstrates the origins of the familiar but often times baffling empty-handed techniques. Using his skill, he painted Aikido as a matured weapons-art. Using his words, it appeared a fully relevant spiritual art.

Several assistants followed him to camp from Redwood City, CA. I got to share room space with one of them, Karl, and as well as being a fantastic uke, he surprised me with his endless well of energy.

Ikeda Sensei seemed to be inspired in his own way this year, mostly due to, it would seem, Ushiro Sensei. Ikeda Sensei has an innate sense of human physiology and especially how timing and movement effect the body. Participating in some of Ushiro Sensei's classes and talking to him throughout the week, however, Ikeda Sensei admitted to experiencing a shift in his view on these things. It is wonderful and scary to witness one's own teacher grow. This past week, he came off as warm-hearted, humble, skilled, and still willing to open his heart and change for the benefit of the future of his art.

Ikeda Sensei used a wide variety of assistants to demonstrate in his classes. It gave many people the opportunity to directly experience his subtle touch and ability to off-balance his attacker.

Ushiro Sensei was this year's guest instructor, flown in from Osaka, Japan. His classes were composed of two main types of practices: basic forms and ki/kokyu. The forms were classical Okinawan Karate forms, as I understand it, the most basic of which was something called Sanjin. From Sanjin, he showed us various ways to test the ki(energy/breath/???) and kokyu(perhaps the movement of ki) which could be generated from each step. The ki/kokyu exercises were fascinating to some, confusing to others, and irrelevant to a few. I found myself confused and delighted most of the time.

There is another person who should be mentioned along with Ushiro Sensei--his translator Jun. Jun was able to relate Sensei's spoken words as well as a sense of his unspoken words. The interpretation was seemless enough that most people probably forgot there was a translator present. I found myself listening to Ushiro Sensei's Japanese, and upon hearing the words in English afterwards, gained an entirely different appreciation for the richness and subtlety of the Japanese language. Ushiro Sensei communicated freely and meaningfully all week long due to Jun's skill. I think he deserves praise for doing a wonderful job.

Saotome Sensei and Ushiro Sensei looked as if they were old friends how they chatted away excitedly during the week. I noticed Saotome Sensei showing Ushiro Sensei one of his books, and they seemed quite energized while discussing it.
Saotome Sensei often talked about peace in the classes I attended. I experienced his classes as something resembling theme and variations, the numerous variations being complex and original. I want to attend many more of his classes.

I'm interested to hear what your impressions were of Ushiro Sensei and the other teachers. What were your training partners like at camp?
I worked with many wonderful people: Jae-Sang(the other person I shared room space with--lucky me!--another great uke, generous and warm-hearted person, and completely passionate about Aikido), Neville, Don, Dan, Noa, Julian, Josh, (There were about 100 others, but I wanted to mention a few!!) and all those regulars from Boulder Aikikai. I learned so much from my partners--THANK YOU!!!

Please send corrections, additions and comments!

First Year, Part II: First Weeks

The first weeks were spent adjusting. I was confused, excited, tired, and nervous. Now I think that was all part of culture shock, and that my shock lasted quite a long time.
I was bewildered by my new job, which required me to sit at a desk for 7 hours daily with no particular job to do. I was told to 'make some lesson plans.' Having never taught before, possessing no curriculum, and being denied access to the teachers or classrooms, I did my best to arrange the teaching props and plans left by my predecessors into something I could make sense of. Otherwise, I read the stuff given to us JETs at orientation, studied Japanese, poked around on the internet when the community computer was free, and--took naps. I discovered my coworkers napping at their desks after lunch, I came to recognize it as a common, if not secretly accepted part of work. I can't imagine how else I spent the time--there was so much of it. I had a difficult time communicating and everyone always seemed busy, although there was one 'office lady' who worked in my branch who spoke decent English. She wanted to be friends very much. I was happy to know her.

My first year in Japan, Part I

My town was in Kumamoto Prefecture, which is in the center of Kyushu, the southwesternmost of the four main islands of Japan. My job was to teach as an assistant English teacher in the elementary and junior high schools of Arao City(pop. 58,000). There are five junior high schools and twelve elementary schools in Arao. Many teachers I worked with did not speak English. I did not speak Japanese.

When I arrived in Arao, I was taken to my new employer's office where I introduced myself. Then, I met the town mayor. I talked to my predecessors for about an hour. Then, I was dropped off at my homestay family's house. I stayed with them for one week.

After my homestay finished, my supervisor and I sorted through furniture from my two predecessors' apartments.
Arao City has been having major financial struggles over the past several years, and cutting the budget for education was a result. The drawback was that I took over two peoples' jobs and responsibilities. The benefit was that I got consolidate the nicest furniture from their two apartments into one, which made my apartment rather nice.

I found a small photocopy of a map of Arao in a folder(in Japanese with English scrawled all over it) left for me, and was told by my supervisor to come to the Board of Education in the morning at 8:20. I sat down on my new bed. I was, well, home.

Return from camp

Arrival back in Boulder today. Happily exhausted, like everyone, I think.
Ushiro Sensei's going to be around til about Wednesday, and I heard he's going to teach a class or two at the dojo here. That's great, because several people are looking forward to picking his brain, including me.
I'm falling asleep as I write, so forgive me for cutting short...zzz
There is much I'd like to say